# US 2018/0321674 A1 · Vehicle equipment for autonomous vehicle enhancement system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0321674 A1 - Document ID: US20180321674A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/974,048 - Filed: 2018-05-08 - Published: 2018-11-08 - Earliest claimed: 2017-05-08 - Inventors: Arnold Chase; William Chase - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180321674A1 ## CPC - G01C 21/3438: {Rendezvous; Ride sharing} - G08G 1/005: including pedestrian guidance indicator - B60W 60/00253: {Taxi operations} - G01C 21/3492: {employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical (traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968)} - G05D 1/0022: {characterised by the communication link (data switching networks in general H04L12/00)} - G05D 1/0027: {involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling (fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00)} - G05D 1/0055: {with safety arrangements} - G05D 1/0276: {using signals provided by a source external to the vehicle (involving a plurality of vehicles G05D1/0287; automatically controlling vehicle speed responsive to externally generated signals B60K31/0058)} - G05D 1/0291: {Fleet control (monitoring fleets in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/127, G08G1/127)} - G05D 1/0297: {by controlling means in a control room} - G05D 1/223: Command input arrangements on the remote controller, e.g. joysticks or touch screens - G05D 1/226: Communication links with the remote-control arrangements - G05D 1/227: Handing over between remote control and on-board control; Handing over between remote control arrangements - G05D 1/247: using signals provided by artificial sources external to the vehicle, e.g. navigation beacons - G05D 1/617: Safety or protection, e.g. defining protection zones around obstacles or avoiding hazards (arrangements for controlling the position or course of two or more vehicles for avoiding collisions therebetween G05D1/693; arrangements for reacting to or preventing system or operator failure G05D1/80) - G05D 1/69: Coordinated control of the position or course of two or more vehicles - G05D 1/692: involving a plurality of disparate vehicles - G06F 15/76: Architectures of general purpose stored program computers (with program plugboard G06F15/08; multicomputers G06F15/16) - G06N 5/01: Dynamic search techniques; Heuristics; Dynamic trees; Branch-and-bound - G06N 5/022: Knowledge engineering; Knowledge acquisition - G06N 20/00: Machine learning - G06Q 10/02: Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events - G06Q 10/06311: {Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group} - G06Q 50/40: Business processes related to the transportation industry (shipping G06Q10/083) - G06V 20/59: inside of a vehicle, e.g. relating to seat occupancy, driver state or inner lighting conditions - G07C 5/008: {communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C)} - G08G 1/012: {from other sources than vehicle or roadside beacons, e.g. mobile networks} - G08G 1/0175: {by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules} - G08G 1/202: {Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching} - G10L 15/22: Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue - H04W 4/44: for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H] - H04W 12/06: Authentication - G05D 1/0212: {with means for defining a desired trajectory (involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287)} - G05D 1/646: Following a predefined trajectory, e.g. a line marked on the floor or a flight path - G06F 3/0481: based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance - G06F 3/0488: using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures - G06N 5/02: Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation - G10L 2015/223: {Execution procedure of a spoken command} - H04L 63/08: {for authentication of entities (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32)} - H04L 63/083: {using passwords (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226)} - H04N 7/188: {Capturing isolated or intermittent images triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event, e.g. an object reaching a predetermined position (signal generation from motion picture films H04N5/253)} - H04W 4/90: Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS] - H04W 12/72: Subscriber identity - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06N: COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - G07C: TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract The present application is directed to an Autonomous Vehicle Enhancement System (AVES) and method for monitoring and managing a virtual or existing fleet of autonomous vehicles in a transportation network and dispatching the autonomous vehicles to users. The AVES includes an AVES Central Operations Center (COC) that communicates with AVES vehicle equipment installed in the autonomous vehicles and AVES applications installed on computing devices accessible by the users. The AVES improves the operating efficiency of a transportation network by monitoring the condition of autonomous vehicles, optimizing the geographical distribution of the autonomous vehicles and optimizing assignment of the autonomous vehicles to users requesting services. The AVES COC monitors and controls the autonomous vehicles via the AVES vehicle equipment. The AVES COC communicates with the users via the AVES applications to provide services to the users. The AVES vehicle equipment and the AVES applications installed on the computing devices communicate with each other to fulfill user request for services. ## Claims ### Claim 1 Autonomous Vehicle Enhancement System (AVES) vehicle equipment configured to be installed on an autonomous vehicle, comprising: an AVES vehicle control system configured to be operably connected to a vehicle computer system of the autonomous vehicle, the AVES vehicle control system being in communication with an AVES Central Operations Center (COC); an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system including a microphone and speaker, the IVR being operatively connected to the AVES vehicle control system for communicating with the AVES COC; and an interactive touchscreen operatively connected to the AVES vehicle control system for communicating with the AVES COC; wherein the AVES vehicle control system transmits a vehicle ID, real-time vehicle location, real-time vehicle availability, real-time vehicle operational state, real-time vehicle condition and real-time vehicle fuel/power-charge level to the AVES COC; wherein the AVES vehicle control system receives from the AVES COC an assigned user trip request including unique trip ID, trip PIN and trip information; wherein the trip information includes pickup location, pickup date/time, destination location, any intermediate stop location(s) and trip route; wherein the AVES vehicle control system guides the autonomous vehicle to the pickup location at the pickup time by transmitting to the vehicle computer system of the autonomous vehicle at least one of the trip information and driving commands; wherein the IVR system and/or the interactive touchscreen identifies the unique trip ID and prompts the user for the trip PIN to authenticate the trip request; and wherein the AVES vehicle control system guides the autonomous vehicle along the trip route after receiving the trip from the user and authenticating the trip request. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 1, further comprising a 360° scanning antenna that scans for a signal encoded with the unique trip ID, which is transmitted by an AVES application executed on a user device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 2, wherein the AVES vehicle control system detects the signal encoded with the unique trip ID, guides the autonomous vehicle toward the user device, stops the autonomous vehicle and unlocks the doors of the autonomous vehicle at a pre-determined signal level. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 1, further comprising an interior video camera operatively connected to the AVES vehicle control system for sending images of the interior of the autonomous vehicle to the AVES COC. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 4, wherein at least one of the IVR system and the interactive touchscreen receives a user emergency alert and sends the user emergency alert to the AVES COC; and wherein the AVES vehicle control system initiates an emergency protocol where the interior video camera and the IVR are activated so that AVES COC can assess the user emergency. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 1, further comprising an omni-directional signal emitter that transmits a signal encoded with the unique trip ID to be received by the AVES application executed on the user device. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the IVR system and the interactive touchscreen receives a modification request from the user to alter the trip information and sends the modification request to alter the trip information to the AVES COC. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 1, wherein the AVES vehicle control system receives an altered trip route from the AVES COC; and wherein at least one of the IVR system and the interactive touchscreen prompts the user to accept or reject the altered trip route. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 1, wherein when the autonomous vehicle arrives at the destination location or intermediate stop location, at least one of the IVR system and the interactive touchscreen prompts the user to confirm whether the user wishes to terminate the trip, wishes for the autonomous vehicle to wait for the user to return to the autonomous vehicle, or wishes to go to a new destination. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 9, wherein if the AVES vehicle control system does not receive user confirmation about whether the user wishes to terminate the trip, wishes for the autonomous vehicle to wait for the user to return to the autonomous vehicle, or wishes to go to a new destination, an interior video camera and the IVR are activated so that AVES COC can assess whether the user is still present in the autonomous vehicle. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 1, wherein if the AVES vehicle control system detects that the autonomous vehicle is disabled or that the autonomous vehicle has an operational malfunction, the AVES vehicle control system activates the autonomous vehicle's hazard flashers, notifies the AVES COC that the autonomous vehicle is disabled or that the autonomous vehicle has an operational malfunction, activates an interior video camera and/or an exterior video camera in the autonomous vehicle and attempts to guide the autonomous vehicle to a safe location. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 1, wherein if the AVES vehicle control system loses communication with the AVES COC, the AVES vehicle control system guides the autonomous vehicle to complete the trip route and stores the trip information in a local memory for billing purposes. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 1, further comprising a trunk video camera and/or one or more trunk sensors operatively connected to the AVES vehicle control system for determining whether items are present in the trunk of the autonomous vehicle. ### Claim 14 A method of guiding an autonomous vehicle, comprising the steps of: providing Autonomous Vehicle Enhancement System (AVES) vehicle equipment configured to be installed on an autonomous vehicle; wherein the AVES vehicle equipment comprises: an AVES vehicle control system configured to be operably connected to a vehicle computer system of the autonomous vehicle, the AVES vehicle control system being in communication with an AVES Central Operations Center (COC); an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system including a microphone and speaker, the IVR being operatively connected to the AVES vehicle control system for communicating with the AVES COC; and an interactive touchscreen operatively connected to the AVES vehicle control system for communicating with the AVES COC; the AVES vehicle control system transmitting a vehicle ID, real-time vehicle location, real-time vehicle availability, real-time vehicle operational state, real-time vehicle condition and real-time vehicle fuel/power-charge level to the AVES COC; the AVES vehicle control system receiving from the AVES COC an assigned user trip request including unique trip ID, trip PIN and trip information; wherein the trip information includes pickup location, pickup date/time, destination location, any intermediate stop location(s) and trip route; wherein the AVES vehicle control system guiding the autonomous vehicle to the pickup location at the pickup time by transmitting to the vehicle computer system of the autonomous vehicle at least one of the trip information and driving commands; the IVR system and/or the interactive touchscreen identifying the unique trip ID and prompting the user for the trip PIN to authenticate the trip request; and the AVES vehicle control system guiding the autonomous vehicle along the trip route after receiving the trip from the user and authenticating the trip request. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method according to claim 14, wherein the AVES vehicle equipment further comprises a 360° scanning antenna; and further comprising the step of: the scanning antenna scanning for a signal encoded with the unique trip ID, which is transmitted by an AVES application executed on a user device. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, further comprising the step of: the AVES vehicle control system detecting the signal encoded with the unique trip ID, guiding the autonomous vehicle toward the user device, stopping the autonomous vehicle and unlocking the doors of the autonomous vehicle at a pre-determined signal level. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method according to claim 14, wherein the AVES vehicle equipment further comprises an interior video camera operatively connected to the AVES vehicle control system for sending images of the interior of the autonomous vehicle to the AVES COC. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of: at least one of the IVR system and the interactive touchscreen receiving a user emergency alert and sending the user emergency alert to the AVES COC; and the AVES vehicle control system initiating an emergency protocol where the interior video camera and the IVR are activated so that AVES COC can assess the user emergency. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The method according to claim 14, wherein the AVES vehicle equipment further comprises a signal emitter; and further comprising the step of: the emitter transmitting a signal encoded with the unique trip ID to be received by the AVES application executed on the user device. ### Claim 20 (depends on 14) The method according to claim 14, further comprising the step of: at least one of the IVR system and the interactive touchscreen receiving a modification request from the user to alter the trip information and sending the modification request to alter the trip information to the AVES COC. ### Claim 21 (depends on 14) The method according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of: the AVES vehicle control system receiving an altered trip route from the AVES COC; and at least one of the IVR system and the interactive touchscreen prompting the user to accept or reject the altered trip route. ### Claim 22 (depends on 14) The method according to claim 14, further comprising the step of: when the autonomous vehicle arrives at the destination location or intermediate stop location, at least one of the IVR system and the interactive touchscreen prompting the user to confirm whether the user wishes to terminate the trip, wishes for the autonomous vehicle to wait for the user to return to the autonomous vehicle, or wishes to go to a new destination. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The method according to claim 22, further comprising the steps of: if the AVES vehicle control system does not receive user confirmation about whether the user wishes to terminate the trip, wishes for the autonomous vehicle to wait for the user to return to the autonomous vehicle, or wishes to go to a new destination, the AVES vehicle control system activating an interior video camera and the IVR so that AVES COC can assess whether the user is still present in the autonomous vehicle. ### Claim 24 (depends on 14) The method according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of: if the AVES vehicle control system detects that the autonomous vehicle is disabled or that the autonomous vehicle has an operational malfunction, the AVES vehicle control system activating the autonomous vehicle's hazard flashers, notifying the AVES COC that the autonomous vehicle is disabled or that the autonomous vehicle has an operational malfunction, the AVES vehicle control system activating an interior video camera and/or an exterior video camera in the autonomous vehicle and attempting to guide the autonomous vehicle to a safe location. ### Claim 25 (depends on 14) The AVES vehicle equipment according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of: if the AVES vehicle control system loses communication with the AVES COC, the AVES vehicle control system guiding the autonomous vehicle to complete the trip route and storing the trip information in a local memory for billing purposes. ### Claim 26 (depends on 14) The method according to claim 14, wherein the AVES vehicle equipment further comprises a trunk video camera and/or one or more trunk sensors operatively connected to the AVES vehicle control system for determining whether items are present in the trunk of the autonomous vehicle; and and further comprising the step of: the AVES vehicle control system receiving a signal from the trunk video camera and/or one or more trunk sensors indicating that an item is present in the trunk of the autonomous vehicle.